Nomadic foraging people, known as Raute, live in the forest of western Nepal. The Raute economy is comprised of three activities: hunting monkeys, collecting wild plants and making and bartering woodenware.

Formerly, they bartered their wooden products with farmers for crops usually at a fixed rate, and rarely received money. Recently, however, individual Raute sometimes sell woodenware for cash. They have Also, begun to receive aid money from government agencies, NPOs and other groups. As a result, the market economy is penetrating Raute society, and has led to a decline in the traditional authority of the Mukiya or leader.

Living freely in the forest, the Raute call themselves "kings of the forest".. To avoid conflict with the villagers comprised mainly of farmers, who constitute the majority population, the Raute hunt only monkeys and no other game, which are taken by the villagers. The King of Nepal gave the Raute the right to live freely and use the forest resources. But his reign ended in 2008. Moreover the "community forest" system became much more efficient subsequent to 2006, when peace was reached after ten years of Civil war. This has served to increase latent conflicts between the Raute and villagers, and is making it difficult for the Raute to live freely in the forest. These interrelated political, social and economic factors have disturbed Raute life and society.

This article first describes briefly Raute traditional life. It then examines the rapid changes of recent years and analyzes their social background.